A key part of the Detroit Red Wings' success in the 2000s is about to be enshrined in hockey's pantheon.
Forward Pavel Datsyuk is one of seven people announced Tuesday afternoon in the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2024.
"I have been lucky in my hockey life to this point," said Datsyuk in a media release. "I would like to thank all of the people who have helped me along my way."
The Russian-born Datsyuk, 45, began his professional career in Russia's KHL league, before being drafted by Detroit in 1998 as the 171st overall pick. He played from 2001 to 2016 with the Red Wings, winning the Stanley Cup in 2002 and 2008. Datsyuk also won three Selke Trophies and four Lady Byng Trophies.
Datsyuk announced his intention to return to Russia in 2016, and the Red Wings traded his contract to the Arizona Coyotes. Datsyuk played five more years in the KHL before retiring in 2021.
Also inducted into the Hall in the players' category are Jeremy Roenick, who played 20 NHL seasons and has been considered one of hockey's most consistent U.S.-born players; Shea Weber, a star with the Nashville Predators who also won two Olympic gold medals for Team Canada; three-time U.S. Olympian Natalie Darwitz, who skated for Team USA in eight women's world championships; and Krissy Wendell-Pohl, who scored 106 goals with Team USA from 1999 to 2007, including two Winter Olympics.
There are two inductees in the builders' category. Colin Campbell has been the NHL's Senior Executive Vice President at the NHL's Hockey Operations, Officiating, and Central Scouting for 25 years. He won the Stanley Cup in 1994 as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers.
David Poile had been an executive with the Atlanta, and later Calgary Flames, and then the general manager of the Washington Capitals from 1982 to 1997. He then moved on to the Nashville Predators, serving as their G.M. from 1998 to 2023.
The induction will take place in Toronto in November.